Early reports after the Soviet nuclear accident at Chernobyl estimated radiation deaths at 10,000 to 100,000 people. But a UN report released recently put the actual death toll at 50 people and estimates that around 4,000–9,000 people will eventually die.[1]

The hype around environmentalist predictions of disaster has caused actual suffering:

“

There has been real suffering, particularly among the 330,000 people who were relocated after the accident. About that there is no doubt. But, for the five million people living in affected regions who are designated as Chernobyl 'victims,' radiation has had no discernible impact on physical health. Where a clear impact has been found is mental health. Fear of radiation, it seems, poses a far more potent health threat than does radiation itself. Symptoms of stress are rampant, and many residents of affected areas firmly believe themselves to be condemned by radiation to ill health and early death.[2]

”

Aral Sea

Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea is almost completely dried up, as of 2017, due to the USSR's diversion of the rivers running into it due to irrigation purposes.[3]

Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya was the location of nuclear weapons tests and nuclear waste dumping by the former Soviet Union. Novaya Zemlya is considered possibly "the most polluted place on earth."[4]